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Chris Chang on Miguel Calderon's Bad Route

Bad Route by Miguel Calderon

Chris Chang, editor of Film Comment writes an article on Mexican artist Miguel Calderon, including quotes from Wes Anderson who used his paintings in his film The Royal Tenenbaums . Calderon created the image then found a portrait painter to reproduce the image. Here is an excerpt from the article:Anderson and co-writer Wilson considered turning Bad Route into an actual stunt the Tenenbaum clan would perform onscreen: “We thought they would have flashlights and ride on motorcycles and wear masks, playing a game.” Ultimately they never staged it. “We realized it didn’t make any sense.” In a neat bit of reflexive art history, after he bought the painting Anderson discovered it had been staged before it was painted, and, shockingly, wasn’t even painted by the artist. Calderon dressed and positioned his “cast,” photographed them, and then, after a long and extensive search, found a portrait painter with the style he was looking for to copy the photo. A few people, including Anderson, wondered why Calderon didn’t paint the thing himself. “Too much art school,” he responds. “If I did it, it would be too artsy. I wanted something camp. Less believable.” He realizes some find this “hands-off” approach to art making somewhat suspect. “People don’t understand,” he says. “The funny thing is, it’s absolutely like filmmaking.” Read the complete article here.